HMS ''E8'' was a British E-class submarine built at Chatham Dockyard. She was laid down on 30 March 1912 and was commissioned on 18 June 1914. She cost £105,700. During World War I, she was part of the

British submarine flotilla in the Baltic A British submarine flotilla operated in the Baltic Sea for three years during the First World War. The squadron of nine submarines was attached to the Russian Baltic Fleet. The main task of the flotilla was to prevent the import of iron ore f ...

Design

The early British E-class submarines, from ''E1'' to ''E8'', had a displacement of at the surface and while submerged. They had a length overall of and a beam of , and were powered by two Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two electric motors.Akerman, P. (1989). ''Encyclopaedia of British submarines 1901–1955''. p.150. Maritime Books. The class had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of , with a fuel capacity of of diesel affording a range of when travelling at , while submerged they had a range of at . The 'Group 1' ''E'' class boats were armed with four 18 inch (450 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s, one in the bow, one either side amidships, and one in the stern; a total of eight torpedoes were carried. Group 1 boats were not fitted with a deck gun during construction, but those involved in the Dardanelles campaign had guns mounted forward of the conning tower while at Malta Dockyard. E-Class submarines had wireless systems with power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was although in service some reached depths of below .

Crew

''E8''′s complement was three officers and 28 men.

Service history

When war was declared with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on 5 August 1914, ''E8'' was based at

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

, in the

8th Submarine Flotilla The 8th Submarine Flotilla was a flotilla of the British Royal Navy consisting of submarines and their supporting depot ships and destroyers. It was established as part of the Home Fleet in 1912. The flotilla brought together the newer, longer ran ...

of the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

s. On that morning the destroyers and towed ''E8'' and , respectively to

Terschelling Terschelling (; fry, Skylge; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of Vlieland and Ameland. Wadden Islanders are k ...

. ''E8'' and ''E6'' then made the first Heligoland Bight patrol of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. On 23 October 1915, ''E8'' sank the 9,050-ton, three-funnel German

armoured cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

west of Libau. As the result of this action the submarine's commander,

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Francis Goodhart, received the

Cross of St. George The Cross of Saint George (russian: Георгиевский крест, Georgiyevskiy krest) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was initially established by Imperial Russia where it was officially known as the Decoration of t ...

from Tsar Nicholas II. During her time in the Baltic,

Aksel Berg Aksel Ivanovich Berg (russian: Аксель Иванович Берг; – 9 July 1979) was a Soviet scientist in radio-frequency engineering and Soviet Navy Admiral, Hero of Socialist Labour. He was a key figure in the introduction of cybernetic ...

, who later became the founder of

Soviet cybernetics Cybernetics in the Soviet Union had its own particular characteristics, as the study of cybernetics came into contact with the dominant scientific ideologies of the Soviet Union and the nation's economic and political reforms: from the unmitigat ...

, was her liaison officer.

Fate

''E8'' met her fate on 4 April 1918 outside Helsingfors (now

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

) off

Harmaja Harmaja ( sv, Gråhara) is an island and a lighthouse outside Helsinki, south of the Suomenlinna sea fortress. The island has been functioning as a landmark since the 16th century. A landmark structure was built on the island in the 18th century ...

Light in the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...

. She was scuttled by her crew, along with , , , , , and to avoid seizure by advancing German forces who had landed nearby. ''E8'' was salvaged in August 1953 for breaking up in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:E08 British E-class submarines of the Royal Navy Ships built in Chatham 1913 ships World War I submarines of the United Kingdom World War I shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea Royal Navy ship names Maritime incidents in 1918 Shipwrecks of Finland Scuttled vessels of the United Kingdom